Chapter Six - X Marks the Spot

Lucius, absolutely buzzing with the latest gossip he had acquired, hurried back to the ship, eager to share what he had learned with his captain. He was completely unprepared for Jim, who grabbed him the moment he stepped aboard and brutally shoved him against the mast. All thoughts of Dizzy Heads were momentarily cast aside as Jim pressed a knife against Lucius's throat, screaming, "¡Pinche hijueputa!"

"Jim, stop! Don't kill him!" Oluwande pleaded as he pulled against Jim's arm, trying to stop them from drawing blood.

"¡Este maldito bastardo es Whistledown! ¡Voy a matarle por su traición!"

Lucius didn't understand a word of Spanish, but he recognized Whistledown when he heard it. It was easy to guess what had Jim so rankled now. Somehow or another, word of Jim's character in Lady's Whistledown's series must have been discovered by the crew.

"Please don't kill me…" Lucius protested, "It's not what you think, I just…"

"Besides Olu, you are the only one on this ship who could connect me with Bonifacia Jimenez!" Jim spat, "So don't you dare try to deny that you…"

"I don't deny it," admitted Lucius with as much dignity as he could muster, "But Jim, what Whistledown writes… What I write… It's all just fanfiction! No one believes anything I say about the Gentleman Pirate! I mean, he's never even met Blackbeard! So who's going to believe that Jim of the Revenge is really Bonifacia?"

"¡Jackie lo creerá! She's put a bounty on my head for killing one of her husbands!"

"Well, not a very high bounty," Lucius cheekily remarked.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Oh, what was it again?" said Lucius, not daring to turn his face away in thought while he still had a knife digging into his neck, "A mere fifty dubloons, I think it was?"

"Fifty!" Jim repeated, pulling the knife away and stepping back from Lucius in disbelief, "For stabbing her favorite husband to death? That's worth at least a thousand dubloons, right?"

Jim looked to Oluwande for validation, but he merely shifted uncomfortably, as if afraid of becoming the next target of his friend's anger.

"It's a good thing, isn't it? Maybe Jackie's not actually that upset with you?" he said.

Jim shook their head. "No… Not after I killed Alfeo de la Vaca… She must have set the bounty low to taunt me. She thinks I'll just walk right into her bar when I hear about it… And she's right."

Jim lunged toward the side of the ship faster than Oluwande or Lucius could react. They believed Jim was going overboard, but just then, Fang and Ivan returned from their supply run. They reached the top of the gangway at the very moment Jim was about to throw themselves down onto the dock.

"Ahoy there, Jim!" Fang greeted cheerfully, not realizing anything was amiss. "Oluwande, where did you run off to in such a hurry? We could have used some help with these oranges."

"Probably better you left when you did," Ivan grumbled before Oluwande could stammer a response, "We ran into an old acquaintance. Don't think you'd like him much. He's a real prick."

"Oh? Who's that?" Oluwande asked, obviously grateful that their sudden appearance had distracted Jim, at least for a moment.

"Blackbeard's first mate - Izzy Hands."

Lucius gasped when he heard the name. Now that he wasn't being threatened by Jim's dagger, he recalled the news that had led him so speedily back to the ship.

"What did he want?" he eagerly asked the two former members of Blackbeard's crew.

"He said his captain wants to meet with ours over at Spanish Jackie's."

Jim directed a significant glance at Oluwande. The expression was not lost on Lucius, who thought he detected their meaning. If the captain was going to Jackie's, Jim would be coming, too.

"But that would be suicide," said Oluwande, speaking more to Jim than to either Fang or Ivan.

"I don't think so..." Ivan slowly replied, "Izzy's… Well, he's Izzy. But he'll do anything Blackbeard asks. If he says Blackbeard just wants to talk, then I guess that's true."

"Shall we go and tell Captain?" Lucius suggested. His mind was already reeling with the possibility of such a meeting and what it would do for his fanfiction.

Captain Bonnet was seated behind his desk when his crew filed into his cabin. A fresh pot of tea sat before him, along with an immaculate china tea service. He paused as he filled his cup, seemingly surprised to find so many members of his crew visiting him at once. His surprise quickly turned to horror as Ivan explained their errand.

"Absolutely not!" he cried when the proposal was laid out for him, "Go and… And speak to Blackbeard? After stealing his ship? I couldn't possibly!"

"Exactly what I was thinking, captain," Oluwande agreed, much to Jim's consternation, "It could be a trap."

Ivan shook his head. "Jackie won't tolerate any fights in her place that she doesn't start herself. I don't think even Blackbeard would dare to attack you there."

"So long as we're inside, maybe not," argued Oluwande, "But she can't guarantee your safety once you leave. You could be ambushed on the way back to the ship. Or they could attack the crew once you're gone."

Jim stepped on Oluwande's foot to silence him, but the gesture was missed by all but Lucius, who was trying desperately to get Stede's attention.

"Captain, you should know…" he began before he was interrupted by Fang.

"We could go with you, captain," he offered, "After all, we used to work for Blackbeard."

Stede considered his options. In truth, after reading several editions of Whistledown to his crew, he had a powerful curiosity to see how the real Blackbeard fared against his fictional counterpart.

"Do you really think it would be alright… Do you think he'd be civil if I brought the two of you along?" he asked.

Fang and Ivan exchanged inscrutable glances. It was Fang who first responded, "Well... He used to talk about you a lot. Before you stole his ship and we joined your crew, that is."

Stede grew pale and asked, "What did he say about me?"

"He didn't really talk to us," Ivan quickly interposed, "He mostly talked to Izzy. But from what we gathered, he was pretty interested in you and Whistledown."

"Captain…" Lucius said again, more urgently this time.

Stede, taking a sip of his tea to steady his nerves, appeared not to hear him.

"Very well," he announced, "Find this Mr. Hands and tell him I agree to meet with his captain. He'll find me at Spanish Jackie's tomorrow night."

Oluwande tried to mask his disappointment while Jim smiled beneath their false beard. There was no doubt that if the captain planned a trip to Jackie's, Jim would be in the entourage. Ivan and Fang left to complete this new mission, and it was only then that Lucius burst out, "CAPTAIN!"

His shout was louder than he'd intended, causing the jittery Stede to spill his pot of tea across his desk as he reached to refill his cup.

"Oh, Lucius!" he complained, jumping out of his seat and fastidiously dabbing at his clothes, "You know I only managed to grab two coats when we left the Revenge! What if this stains?"

"I'm sorry, captain, but I've got to tell you something! It's about Izzy Hands!"

Stede froze. "Izzy Hands… Blackbeard's first mate?"

Lucius nodded his head eagerly. Now that he finally had his captain's attention, the truth came rushing out of him in one breath, "I've just found out that he's a author! He's been writing under the name Dizzy Heads this whole time! I heard it from the publisher himself!"

Stede gazed at Lucius with sheer terror on his face. "Why didn't you say so sooner?!"

"I tried!" Lucius protested.

Stede was no longer paying attention. He had begun pacing back and forth, the spilled tea and the stains on his coat entirely forgotten. He was thinking about how foolish he had been. He had secretly cherished a hope that Blackbeard was more like the character in Whistledown than he had imagined at first. It was this, and this alone, that made him even consider the meeting at Spanish Jackie's. But Lucius's revelation chilled him to the marrow of his bones. If anyone knew Blackbeard's true character, surely it would be his first mate. And if the real Blackbeard was like what he read about in Dizzy Head's stories… If the mutilation and murder were true…

"Olu, the moment Ivan and Fang return, tell Buttons to set sail," Stede announced, "We have to leave port. Tonight."


The Queen Anne's Revenge had been swallowed by darkness, its many candles and lanterns snuffed. Normally, it would have been dangerous to sail in dark waters with no light, but Ed was not worried. He had a beacon.

Sailing toward a light in the dark was ill advised in most circumstances. Such a phenomenon usually signaled a lighthouse, and anyone foolhardy enough to risk sailing toward it would surely crash upon some rocks. But the lights that Ed used to guide his way were not from any lighthouse, but from another ship. His ship. Or rather Bonnet's ship, for he supposed it belonged to the Gentleman Pirate now.

His invitation had been in earnest. Ed would have gladly sat down with Bonnet over a bottle of rum in Spanish Jackie's. But he hadn't for a moment believed the Gentleman Pirate would accept his offer. Bonnet had escaped him once already, and anyone with the balls to steal Blackbeard's ship wouldn't be taken in by an offer to chat. So Ed had placed a few scouts around the port in anticipation of Bonnet's retreat, and when he inevitably fled into open waters, Ed was prepared to follow him. Now his smaller, faster sloop cut through the calm sea as silent as a ghost, quickly gaining on the larger vessel. With any luck, the darkness and the fog would shield them from being spotted until they were close enough to board.

He wanted to complete this invasion without bloodshed, but the naval captain, still his prisoner in name only, did not share his scruples. He hardly seemed to care about the fate of the other pirates, desiring only the capture of the errant Whistledown.

"The others will eventually be caught and executed for piracy, anyway," he said carelessly when informed of Ed's plans, "What does it matter if they're killed now or later?"

Izzy was of the same opinion, or very near it. He certainly didn't approve of his captain's obsession with Whistledown and Bonnet. He'd seemed almost delighted when Ed proposed capturing Bonnet's ship, but that delight had turned into a cold sneer when he was informed that they weren't there to murder the crew.

Ed banished Izzy from his mind as he drew near the ship. He was determined to make a friend of this Stede Bonnet, and the only way that could happen was if this invasion was done quietly and peacefully.

He braced himself when they were close enough to board, but became perplexed when still he heard no warning cry. Had the lookout fallen asleep in the crow's nest?

No, it was stranger than that. There was no one above deck, not even someone to man the helm. They were simply drifting in open water, their sails put down for the night. It was no wonder Ed had caught up to them so quickly, but where was everyone?

"There's some fuckery afoot," he warned in a whisper to the naval captain, who had volunteered to join his boarding party.

"Perhaps they've abandoned ship?"

"No… The boats are still here. What were they going to do, swim? They've got to be hiding somewhere…"

Then he heard voices from below deck. With a glance at the captain and a gesture to his men, they made their way down into the hull, stalking as quietly as they could across the wooden planks. He proceeded down a dark corridor, following the voices.

He soon realized that what he thought was a conversation between two people was merely one man, his voice pitching high and low as he spoke to himself. Fascinated, Ed stopped just outside a door at the end of the passage, peering through the crack at the scene within.

A man in a vibrant blue frock coat stood before a semi-circle of sailors, all of them listening eagerly as he read from a pamphlet in his hands. It was his voice that Ed had heard, shifting from a light, breathy murmur to a low, seductive growl as he embodied two different characters.

"How are you handling this so well?" he read aloud, in a voice too perfect to belong to anyone but the Gentleman Pirate himself.

"I don't know," he continued, dropping his voice an octave lower for his enthralled audience, "It's kind of nice just to take a load off. Just to… Just to be… Edward. I don't know if I want to go back to the old days, just drinking all day and biting the heads off turtles or… making some poor bloke eat his own toes for the laugh…"

Ed's heart skipped a beat. He was reading the latest Whistledown!

"There he is…The bastard himself," whispered the naval captain at Ed's side. He wasn't looking at Bonnet, but at a member of his crew. "Should we do it now? They don't suspect any…"

Ed silenced him with an impatient "shh!" He hadn't heard this newest installment, and he was riveted by Bonnet's dramatic portrayal.

He had just finished describing a passionate kiss by the sea. Bonnet's Blackbeard, the one with the sultry voice, had just announced that they would run away together, perhaps as far as China. They would have a fresh start, a new life together…

"But trouble arose for the star-crossed lovers. On the night of his departure, Bonnet was prevented from leaving by the dreaded Chauncey Badminton!"

Bonnet's audience booed appreciatively at this mention of the series' villain. Their captain paused for silence before he continued, describing how his fictional counterpart was led at gunpoint into the woods. Although Ed could see the real Bonnet, alive and quite well, he still felt his heart race with fear as the fictional Stede was confronted by the mad naval commander.

"You're a monster…" Bonnet continued, voicing Admiral Badminton. Ed smiled to himself as once more the captain adopted a new tone, this one posh but unhinged in his grief and anger. "A plague that defiles beautiful things…And here you are… Unscathed… The Stede Bonnet Reign of Terror ends tonight!"

"No!" cried several members of the crew, completely engrossed in the story. It took every ounce of Ed's self-control not to cry out with them.

"But wait!" Bonnet continued, "The drunk and deranged Badminton took a menacing step forward… And tripped! A shot ripped through the still night. The bullet found its mark, but it was not Bonnet who had been killed, it was Chauncey Badminton! Felled by his own gun!"

Some of the crew gasped while still more laughed at the irony of the villain's inglorious end. Bonnet allowed them to settle as his eyes scanned the next few lines. His expression changed, and he quietly said to himself, "Oh no…"

The crew fell silent immediately, fearing that some injury befell their beloved captain after all. They looked at Bonnet as he continued in a heartbroken voice, "Captain Bonnet was free. There was still time to meet Blackbeard at the dock. And yet… He could not rid himself of Chauncey's words, delivered like a curse and sealed with his own blood. Bonnet feared that what Badminton said was true. He was already a disgrace to his family, and a failure as a pirate… He could not bring Blackbeard down as well. He… He knew what he must do. He would return to his family, back to his wife and children…"

Ed couldn't take it anymore. He burst into the room and screamed, "BUT THEY DON'T NEED YOU! I NEED YOU!"

Silence greeted his sudden appearance. A bald member of Bonnet's crew broke the stillness when he said in a stunned voice, "My god… It's Blackbeard."

Stede Bonnet met Edward Teach's eyes for the first time… Then he fainted on the spot.